Rail fastener



Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

UNITED S'TTES WILLIAM DAL'roN, or soHENEcTAnY, NEW YORK.y

RAIL FASTENER.

Application filed August 17, 1923. Serial No. 657,944.

To aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM DALTON, of Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady and State of `New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rail Fasteners, of which' improvement the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for securing railroad rails to metal ties, particularly to 4ties of I beam section, such as old rails, or of other commercial rolled shapes.

One object of the invention is to provide a rail fastener of such construction that the rails can be readily removed, after the fishplates have been taken off, without disturbing the fasteners themselves, which remain, or may remain, permanently secured to the ties.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rail fastener, in the application of which no openings or cuts are required to be made either in the rails or in the ties, and which will occupy no more space than the usual spike heads.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail fastener which will securely hold the rail against lateral movement in either direction, and against vertical movement relatively to the ties. It is not necessary, in practice, to equip each and every tie with a fastener constructed and adapted to prevent lateral movement of a rail inward towards the companion rail, but the inner fastener may be applied on, say, -only every fourth or fifth tie. The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a view, in perspective, of a plurality of ties, formed of used rails, with the track rails secured thereto by my improved fastener; Fig. 2, a partial side elevation of a tie equipped with the fastener of Fig. l, the rail being shown in section; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the rail and fastener, the tie being shown in section; and Fig. 4, a view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of Fig. 2.

, These views illustrate a. simple embodiment of the invention, one which is especially adapted for use on electric railroads, as it involves the welding of the retainers to the ties. The retainer member, shown outside of the rails, is in the form of a bar, 5, which is of a. length corresponding to the width of the top of the tie, 2, and is formed with a recess, 6, in its inner side, so as to overlap the adjacent edge of the bottom flange, la, of the rail. rIhe angle of the top wall of the recess, 6, to the horizontal, is greater than that of the top of the ,rail flange, 1'L to the horizontal. The rail may thereby be tipped for removal, whendesired.

The retainer member, 5, is ysecured to the tie by welding, the welding material, 8, being shown most clearly in Fig. 4. In practice,

this welding is a cheap and rapid operation; the welding material is in the form of a wire, previously coated with a flux, which islaid along the joint between the rear side of the bar and the top of the tie and the welding current applied by well known portable apparatus. weld around the ends of the bar, which in that case, -is madesomewhat shorter than the width of the tie.

The retainer member on the other side of the rail is a plane bar, 7, which is also welded to the tie and presents a plane vertical face to the edge of the flange of the rail. It will be seen that these retaining members do not necessitate any drilling or other working of the rails or ties, and will securely hold the rails in place while permitting longitudinal creeping thereof, and will also enable the rails to be readily removed, by tipping them outwardly, without any withdrawal of nuts, spikes, or other connections. Furthermore, my retainer bars occupy no more space than do the heads of the usual spikes.

Under conditions which render it not convenient to weld the retainer members to the ties, or when it is not desired to do so, other means for securing them to the ties may be used.

I claim as my invention and desire to s ecure by Letters Patent:

l. Means for removably connecting rails to metal ties, comprising a retainer member adapted to lie across the trie and bepermanently secured thereto, the inner face of said retainer member having an undercut recess to overlap the edge of the adjacent rail flange, the top of said recess beingat a greater angle'to the horizontal than the top of the rail flange, whereby the rail can be removed by tippingA it without disturb-V I sometimes prefer to continue the` secured to the tie o n one side o'l the rail and having a flange overlapping the rail flange but at a greater angle to the horizontal than said rail flange, so that the rail can be removed by tipping it Without disturbing said bar, and a bar permanently secured to the tie on the other side of the'rail and presenting a plane vertical face to the rail flange, said bars occupying no more space laterally of the rail flange than the heads of the usual spikes.

3. Means for fastening rails to ties, comprising a retainer bar adapted to lie across thetie and having its inner side recessed to overlap the rail flange, the angle of the upper Wall of said recess to the horizontal being greater than the angle of theupper side of the rail flange to the horizontal, whereby the rail can be removed by tipping it Without disturbing the bar, and a second retainf er bar adapted to lie across the tie on the other side of the rail and presenting a plane. vertical face to the rail flange, and means whereby said bars can be rigidly secured to the tie Without any cutting of the latter.

4. Means for fastening rails to ties, com.- prising a retainer bar adapted to lie across the tie and having its inner; siderecessed to overlap the rail flange, the angle 'of the upper Wall of said recess to the horizontal being greater than the angle of the upper side vof the rail flange to the horizontal, whereby the rail can be removed by tipping it Without disturbing the bar, and a second retainer bar adaptedto lie across the tie on the other side of the rail and presenting a plane vertical face'to the rail flange, said bars being Welded to the tie. f

5,. In a rail fastener, a retainer bar having its inner side recessed to overlap the rail flange, the angle of said recess being such as to permit the rail to be tipped for removal, and a plane faced bar on the other side of the rail, said bars being of a length equal to the Width of the tie and adapted to be Welded to the tie and the Width of said bars being such that they extend laterally from the rail substantially no further than the heads .of ordinary railroad spikes.`

WILLIAM DALTON.

Witnesses Y E. R. FINEGAN, S. H. DINGMAN. 

